Legislation

There are multiple federal legislative proposals addressing municipal broadband, likewise running the gamut of ensuring that they are permitted to declaring that they are prohibited. The Telecommunications reform proposal that was passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee in June of 2006 would prevent states from prohibiting their own municipalities from offering broadband services; municipalities who do plan to offer broadband must solicit bids for service, although they would not be obligated to accept any of these bids. [Senate Moves to Ease Muni Wifi, ZDNet June 29, 2006]

S 2686 Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006 (Introduced in Senate)[S.2686.IS]
Community Broadband Act - Amends the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to prohibit any state or local government statute, regulation, or other legal requirement from prohibiting any public provider from providing, to any person or any public or private entity, advanced communications capability or any service that utilizes the advanced communications capability provided by such provider. Provides safeguards, including that a public provider may not provide advanced communications capability to the public unless the provision of such capability by that public provider is subject to the same laws and regulations that would apply if the advanced communications capability were being provided by a nongovernmental entity.

Hearings

Hearing on State and Local Issues and Municipal
Networks: Hearing Before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
109th Cong. (2006)

Hearing on The Provision of Telecommunications and Information Services by the Federal
Government in Competition with the Private Sector, Hearing Before the House Government
Information and Individual Rights Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations,
97th Cong. (1982)

FCC GRANTS PETITIONS TO PREEMPT STATE LAWS RESTRICTING COMMUNITY BROADBAND IN NORTH CAROLINA, TENNESSEE. Opened the door for two community broadband providers to expand service, preempting state laws in Tennessee and North Carolina that prevented these and similar broadband providers in the two states from meeting local demand for broadband service. News Release. Adopted: 02/26/2015. News Media Contact: Mark at 0253, email: Mark. WCB https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-332255A1.docx
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-332255A2.docx
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-332255A3.docx
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-332255A4.docx
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-332255A5.pdf
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-332255A6.docx
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-332255A1.pdf
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-332255A2.pdf
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-332255A3.pdf
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-332255A4.pdf
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-332255A6.pdf

Statement by FCC Commissioner Mignon L Clyburn on Proposed Anti-Municipal Broadband Legislation, April 4, 2011“I recently learned that several state legislatures are considering bills that are contrary to
the deployment objectives of the Broadband Plan.
For example, in North Carolina, the state
legislature is currently evaluating legislation
entitled ‘Level Playing
Field/Local Government
Competition.’ Last week the North Carolina Ho
use passed the bill, and it currently awaits
consideration in the Senate. This piece of legislation certainly sounds
goal-worthy, an innocuous
proposition, but do not let the tit
le fool you. This measure,
if enacted, will not only
fail
to level
the playing field; it will discourage municipal governments from addressing deployment in
communities where the private sector has failed
to meet broadband service needs. In other
words, it will be a
significant barrier
to broadband deployment and
may impede local efforts to
promote economic development.""

"Among the other recommendations of the National Broadband Plan, I know that
many folks in this room cheered the recognition of the importance of the ability of tribal,
state, regional and local governments to build their own broadband networks. My
colleague Commissioner Mignon Clyburn has been highlighting the importance of
municipal broadband as an important tool to address the digital divides in our country.
As most of you know, I have been pushing municipal broadband for a long, long time.
When incumbent providers cannot serve the broadband needs of some localities, local
governments should be allowed--no, encouraged--to step up to the plate and ensure that
their citizens are not left on the wrong side of the great divide. So it is regrettable that
some states are considering, and even passing, legislation that could hinder local
solutions to bring the benefits of broadband to their communities. It's exactly the wrong
way to go. In this context, too, our previous infrastructure challenges must be the guide.
The successful history of rural electrification, as one example, is due in no small part to
municipal electric cooperatives that lit up corners of this country where investor-owned
utilities had little incentive to go. Those coops turned on the lights for a lot of people!
You know, our country would be a lot better off if we would learn from our past rather
than try to defy or deny it."

National Broadband Plan Rec. 8.19: Congress should make clear that state, regional and local governments can build broadband networks.

Mo. Mun. League, 16 FCC Rcd. 1157, 1158 (2001),
vacated
, 299 F.3d 949, 952 (8th Cir.
2002),
rev’d
, 541 U.S. 125 (2004) ([T]he legal authorities that we must look to in this case compel us to deny the
Missouri Municipals’ petition . . . . The Commission has found that municipally-owned utilities
and other utilities have the potential to become major competitors in the telecommunications
industry. In particular, we believe that the entry of municipally-owned utilities can further the
goal of the 1996 Act to bring the benefits of competition to all Americans, particularly those who
live in small or rural communities.”)

William Lehr, Marvin Sirbu and Sharon Gillett, "Municipal Wireless Broadband: Policy and Business Implications of Emerging Access Technologies," Competition in Networking: Wireless and Wireline, London Business School, April 13-14, 2004

Links

Supporters

AT&T Chicago's main phone company, AT&T, says it similarly would not be opposed to a city-initiated effort. "AT&T always has believed that the best approach is to stimulate investment in broadband," spokesman Rick Fox said. "As long as you're working with the private sector, that's a good thing." Chicago Planning City Wifi CNN March 2006

Links

News & Blogs

The FCC Rules Against State Limits on City Run Internet, The Washington Post Feb. 26, 2015 ("On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commissions voted 3-2 to override laws preventing Chattanooga, Tenn., and Wilson, N.C. from expanding the high-speed Internet service the cities already offer to some residents.")